In the coming weeks, Vacaville Unified leaders will consider several proposed changes to course offerings and graduation requirements at the city”s charter high school, Buckingham, leading to a revised charter for the Bella Vista Road campus.

At a governing board meeting Thursday, school Principal Jeff Erickson, in a computer-aided slide presentation, outlined not only the costs of the changes, which include grading practices and course requirements, but also the reasoning behind them.

Among the proposed changes for the 2014-15 year are the addition of a biotechnology science course, the start-up costs of which would be an estimated $40,000 in the first year for equipment and supplies and $6,000 the following year.

Plans also call for replacement of ninth-grade Earth Science with Introduction to STEM (an acronym Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the start-up costs of which would be an estimated $6,500, for classroom renovations, equipment and books, Erickson noted.

He also proposed replacing the required Computer Tech course with Intro to Engineering Design, beginning in the fall. The course will be offered through Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit group that develops hands-on, project-based STEM curricula for used by U.S. teachers. That class would be followed in the 2015-16 year with Principles of Engineering, followed, in turn during the 2016-17 year, by Aeronautical Engineering. Estimated start-up costs, Erickson said, would be $14,500 in the first year, $24,500 in the following two years, and $8,900 in year four and thereafter.

Other proposals include a partnership with TEALS (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools) as a way to provide additional computer experts in the AP (advanced placement) Computer Science A course, said Erickson, who oversees the dependent charter school (meaning its governed by the district) and its 460 students and some 30 teachers.

The proposals come as a result of a recent review of the school by stakeholders and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC, one of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges and universities in the United States.

Erickson said the proposed changes are due because job “opportunities in STEM outpaces opportunities in other fields.”

Afterward, the tenor of the board”s questions and statements appeared to mostly support the proposed changes, which trustees will continue to discuss at their May 15 and June 12 meetings.

In an interview after Thursday”s board meeting, Erickson sounded optimistic about the changes” chances of approval.

“They seem to be excited about it as I am,” he said of the trustees” reactions. “They”ll be classes that will really engage the kids.”

In addition, Buckingham leaders are proposing additional “grade weighting,” a process that determines how final grades are calculated, for Solano Community College courses with number 1 to 49. Those courses approved by the University of California.

Erickson also wants the board to consider several proposed graduation requirements. They include requiring years of math; three years of science; and one year of foreign language. (The state of California currently only requires two years of math and science.)

Those changes, if approved by the board, would take effect for all incoming ninth-graders during the 2015-16 year.

In other matters, trustees approved motions to declare May 14 California Day of the Teacher and May 18 to 14 as Classified Employee Week.